the united states and our great ally israel. this commitment, this commitment to an even stronger u.s./israeli relationship is one that is shared by the president by me, as secretary of defense, and by my entire military and civilian leadership at the department of the defense. the strength of that shared commitment is reflected in the size and the make up of this audience your presence here today is a testament to the broad and unshakeable support that the american people and the american leaders of all be backgrounds have for israel. i'm told that there are more

than 1,500 students from hundreds of campuses attending. my wife and i as some of you may know developed a policy institute, the purpose of which is to inspire public service and that is exactly wh lly what aip here. as current and future leaders come together. you send a strong and an unmistakable signal to the entire world, the united states and israel stand together, our shared values, our shared interests, and our shared desire to work together are absolutely essential to the securities interests of both nations and to a peaceful and prosperous middle

east, as a former member of congress, representing the central coast of california for over 16 years. [ applause [ applause ] thank you california. i've had a long standing respect foray -- for, aipac and its organization. as chairman of the house budget committee in the 1980s and 1990s and then later as omb director, i had the opportunity to work on budget issues, regarding military and economic assistance to israel. one of my warmest memories is working closely as a member of congress with my dear friends

naomi, lauder, she was special to me, she served as the regional director based out of san francisco, i understand her son is here and carries on her great work. [ applause ] i should mention that i have a personal connection to israel that dates back to my days as a member of congress. for more than ten years i shared a house with a group of fellow congressmen right here in district of columbia, if you have seen the movie "animal house" you'll have an idea what it was like. one of the members of that house was chuck schumer. someone that many of you know and understand that is a tremendous passion for israel.

we slept in the bottom of the house, living room area and every night before we went to sleep he made me say the shuma. [ applause ] i made him say the hail mary. he learned from my passion as an italian and i learned from his passion for israel. particularly when i think it was a little over 20 years ago that he and i and some of our dearest friends made a visit and traveled to israel together. that visit was in august of 1961 -- 1991 and it left a very deep and a very lasting impression on me. it was at a time when hundreds of thousands of jews from the

soviet union were making alia and fulfilling a dream to live a free and a more prosperous life in their historic home land. that trip gave me an even stronger appreciation for israel's promise as a jewish and democratic state. and coming just months after saddam hussein's scud missiles had attacked tel, aviv, the visit under scored the complex array of security threats facing israel by virtue its placement. in the years since, i've been able to work on a vast array of

issues to the relationship between washington and jerusalem. one of my lasting memories was standing in the south lawn of the white house to witness the historic moment when there were hands extended in peace. after rubeen's deaths, he was honored to go to israel and bare the burden of seeing the president pay tribute to the memory of his fallen friends. whether at a time of tragedy or a time of hope, the courage of the people of israel is fundamental to its survival. courage is woven to the history

of israel, to david, to joshua,to the modern day, they have fulfilled their dream ultimately, to live in their home land. when i return to government as director of the cia. and had the responsibility to confront terrorists, who's sole goal was to destroy my country i had a great appreciation for the terrorism and threats that face israel every day. and as a consequence i developed even stronger bonds with my counter parts in the israeli government.

ties of mutual trust and respect and interest that are the corner stone of unprecedented cooperation that now exists between our two governments. during any tenure as director of the cia, i consulted regularly with my counter parts. and i saw the benefits that came from close intelligence relationships between our governments at the very highest levels. and i can tell you that after our operation to get bin laden, the first congratulations i got were from my buddies in musad.

and in my current job as secretary of defense, i've been reunited with my dear old friend and counter part, he and i talk frequently, i just met with him for 90 minutes in my office last wednesday. there was no minister of defense that i have met with more regularly or consulted more often, we talk, we argue, we eat, we are family. [ applause ] >> i also met yesterday with my friend prime minister netanyahu. i have come to know the prime minister well, since my days in the clinton administration when i was chief of staff and now have the opportunity to meet with him regularly each time i go to israel. from these visits, from these visits to israel and my frequent

meetings with israeli leaders, i am acutely aware of the dangers that confront israel and the significance of our defense relationship. as a consequence the level of interaction between our militaries and intelligence agencies is deeper and stronger and broader than at any other time in my experience in government. and let me assure you. that the security bonds between israel and the united states will only grow as america goes through an historic turning point after a decade of war, even in the face of budget reductions posed by the congress, the defense strategy

that with we have designed at the department of defense for the future makes very clear our commitment to confront and defeat any adversary any time, anywhere. although we have ended the mission in iraq and begun a transition in afghanistan, the threats in the world that we face are still very real and are still there. we are involved in a war in afghanistan. we are still confronting terrorism, as much as we have been able to decimate their leadership and impact on their command and control, they still remain a threat, whether in pab stan or yemen or somalia, we still have the proliferation of weapons, weapons of mass destruction and materials that

feed into is those weapons. we have the threat from iran. we have the threat from north o kor korea. we have continuing turmoil in the middle east, we have rising powers in asia, we have a new threat. the threat of cyber intrusions and attacks, in the face of these threats we must never rest easy. too many lives have been lost and too much blood has been spilt. [ applause ] the range of security challenges facing both the united states and israel remains very real. and for that reason it is absolutely vital that this cooperation continues and not only continues but deepens, the corner stone of this

unprecedented defense cooperation is our commitment expand israel's military edge. this is an ironclad pledge which said that the united states will provide whatever support is necessary so israel can maintain military superiority over any state or coalition of states as well as nonstate actors, israel is surrounded by neighbors that is have waged wars against it, the israeli people have been subjected to rocket attacks, to terrorism, and they live in a world where larger nations have threatened to wipe them off the map. more over, the jewish people carry the burden of centuries

exile and persecution and the memory of knowing that six million people were murdered not because of what they did, but simple isly because of who they were. this is undeny able history. and these are the undeny able security concerns of the president. the president made the concerns clear to the u.n. general aassembly last year and confirmed them to all of you last sunday. he has made it a priority to boost israel's mill teitary superiority in the middle east for one simple reason, we have no better ally in this critical region of the world.

the strong israel deters potential aggressores, it sends a message to the region and to the world that america will not waiver in the defense of our allies, and for this reason, even though we are facing serious fiscal constraints, u.s. security assistance to israel has increased dramatically since this president took office. this year, the president requested $3.1 billion in security assistance to israel, compared to $2to -- this is a commitment to israel's security, over and above the commitment is

president has committed more than $650 million in israel missile defense. recognizing that rockets and missiles, whether fired from gaza or from a field pose one of the most immediate threats to the security of israel. this package more than doubles the previous administration's planned level of $320 million over the same period, on missile defense we are actively working with israel at all levels for short range defense, to guard against the continued threat of rocket attacks from gaza, the administration provided more than $200 million for the iron dome rocket defense system. [ applause ]

support that has enabled the fielding of third and fourth battery of that proven system. iron dome is fielded, it is operational, and in new system has already saved the lives of israeli citizens with over 30 real world successful hit to kill intercepts in 2011. iron dome is but one layer. one layer in a comprehensive multi-layer rocket and missile defense system that is being built as a result of close united states and israeli partnerships. we are proceeding to implement medium range missile defense with david sling and upper tier

ballistic defense, with the arrow three system. we are also working to upgrade israel's patriot missile system and batteries. we are committed to moving forward with all of these sys m systems and more. because as the prime minister told me, and i agree, these missile shields do not start wars, they prevent wars. [ applause ] supporting israel's missile defense is important because it saves israeli lives. beyond missile defense we must also ensure israel's quality military edge by equipping them with high advanced weapons that are restricted only to the closest of our allies and

partners. as an example, the united states will ensure that israel continues to enjoy unquestioned air superiority by delivering to israel the advanced fifth generation stealth fighter aircraft, the f-35 joint fighter. the f-35 is the future of tacticle aviation for the united states military and providing israel with this advanced fighter makes it the only country in the middle east with a true fifth generation fighter capacity. upholding israel's edge not just now but for years to come.

another way is to continue to hone our capabilitity and improve the partnership through realistic exercises and joint training and personnel exchan s exchanges, each year the united states and israeli forces take part in numerous exercises, for example, in 2010, more than 1,000 u.s. troops participated in the missile defense exercise, juniper cobra, be and this year we have another exercise that will involve more than 3,000 u.s. troops. we are willing to explore ways

to reduce our dependencies on oil. d.o.d. is developing alternative fuels, greening out our fleet, testing planes with bio blends and making bases net neutral on the power grid, together we must find ways to reduce our dependence on oil. this kind of cooperation is mutually beneficial to both my country and to israel. it has made both of our military stronger, it has made both of our countries safer, and it has saved american and israeli lives. for example, it was an israeli company that met the call to

help protect american soldiers serving in iraq and afghanistan by surging production of up armor kits for humvee, they saved the lives of our men and women in uniform. [ applause ] one of my most solemn duties in this job as secretary of defense and one that is frankly the difficult is to write letters to the families of our soldiers who make the ultimate sacrifice for our country and for our free do. it's difficult to take the time

to sit and to write those families who have lost their loved ones and i say to them, that as difficult as this moment is that by virtue of their giving their lives to this country, the ultimate sacrifice, they are heroes, and they are patriots, and we will never forget them. i wrote -- i wrote one recently to a young boy whose father died in avenue stan and i can tell you with each letter i thank got to those whose lives have been saved. there are no words that can adequately thank the people of

that place whose work has allowed mothers and fathers to come home to their sons and daughters. this level of cooperation, technological, strategic, in every way is absolutely essential because we are clearly confronting a time of great turmoil and uncertainty in the middle east. and when it cops to the challenges in the region, none is of greater concern than iran. no greater threat exists to the security of israel and to the entire region and indeed to the united states than that nuclear armed iran.

as the president made clear here on sunday and as he has said consistently, the united states is determined to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, let me be clear, we do not have a policy of containment, we have a policy of preventing iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. [ applause ] this administration has applied unprecedented pressure on the iranian regime and they face crippling sanctions and growing isolation, their closest ally, the assad regime of syria is collapsing and the iranians now face the choice, to either meet their international obligations and rejoin the community of

nations or violate their international obligations and face the consequences. we have made clear to the regime in tehran and to our allies in the region, we will back the -- we will keep all actions incl e including military action on the table to prevent them from obtaining a nuclear weapon. as the president made clear, the united states does not bluff. in this town, it's easy to talk tough acting tough is a hell of a lot more important. the president ordered 30,000 additional troops to battle in

afghanistan, he launched a comprehensive precision bombing campaign and toppled a brutal dictator, he has ordered u.s. war ships to pass through the straits of hormuz, he has been the driving force behind the most successful and lethal counter tarp rimp campaign in u.s. history resulting in the bold decision to send u.s. operations forces hundreds of miles into pakistan to take the risk to take down bin laden and he did. the president has shown that we will do whatever is necessary. to protect our people to protect our allies and to protect our

interests, of course, we do not make these decisions lightly. as the president said on this stage, these are the most important decisions that a president must make. of course, we prefer the diplomatic path and as the prime minister himself has said, military action is the last alternative when all else fails. but make no mistake, when all else fails we will

compel tehran to change force, that is the kind of benefit that cooperation can bring, that partnership can bring and i believe that the cooperation is going to be essential to confronting the security challenges of the 21st krntry, in confronting the challenges israel will always have the backing of the united states and the united states must also have the unshakeable trust of our ally israel. october, i traveled to israel, on one of my first trips overseas as secretary of